[Harp-L] re: Chrometta 8 - pet project

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim writes:

"Mr Ross-"

No need to be formal.  Jon, Jon Ross, JR, etc... will do just fine.  :)


"I can't remember where i read about the differences between the  
Chrometta 10,  compared to the 8 and 12....  unless it was bad info?"


That would be my bet.  It's possible that the machinery or molds had  
gotten worn down on one model more than the others, but I'd doubt it  
would be that extreme.  Well, it could be, but frankly I don't think  
much of the Chrometta to begin with, so it's kind of like  
distinguishing how far below par things go.


"By "integral" do you mean the Slider can't be removed and reversed?   
I'd still be considering this because of the size.  Not so much  
worried about the leaking, as I'd work on that part."


By "integral" I mean that the mouthpiece and slider channel are all  
molded from the comb.  You can remove and reverse the slider itself,  
but not work on the channel.  That really limits what you can do to  
improve performance.


"I HATE the Koch... I had a used one, briefly , before I took the  
harmonica serious.  It was WAY WAY too big in every way.
Another one I liked was the Hering Vintage 40.... it comes in many  
keys, so much room to play. It's small and already Richter tuned."

I wasn't aware that the Hering was significantly smaller than the  
Koch.  As I said, I normally wouldn't recommend the Koch, but since  
you were going to be working on the instrument that made the flaws  
less of a problem.

I'd recommend waiting and saving up for a better quality instrument  
to start on than the Chrometta.  Unless you want a much larger  
project, where you use the Chrometta 8 reed-plates, cover-plates and  
slider and build a new mouthpiece and/or comb.  The size of the  
Chrometta 8 is tempting as a pocket-harp type of thing, it just  
depends on what your end-quality point is.  If it's just something  
basically playable, then it might be fine; if it's something really  
nice to play, then probably not.





 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()
`----'